Challenger emerges in race for Beaufort County sheriff

JoJo Woodward, a 31-year veteran of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, is challenging his boss P.J. Tanner, who is running for re-election, in the June 12 Republican primary.

Woodward has served for five years as captain of the southern enforcement branch, whose jurisdiction includes all of the county south of the Broad River.

Woodard also has experience as a drug interdiction and enforcement officer, which put him in charge of all the county’s narcotic investigations. He has been commander of the Beaufort/Jasper Multi-Agency Drug Task Force and served on a task force for the DEA.

“I’m running because I have the experience and passion to restore public trust and confidence in the Sheriff’s Office,“ Woodward said. “My three decades of experience in law enforcement, many of those in command and leadership roles, have prepared me for this next step in public service.”

Woodward said he wants to “retool” the Sherriff’s Office and “bring a new focus on community policing, to bring a new vision that proactively solves problems, and to bring new, fresh ideas and strategies to make our communities safer.”

Woodward said he will emphasize better communication in his campaign.

“I want the sheriff’s department basically to work with other agencies and establish lines of communication with other agencies,” he said. “That’s the key to success in law enforcement. We’ve got to communicate and I want to be a conduit as the sheriff of this county to be able to extend a hand to all the agencies.”

Woodward said that would include holding more meetings, both formal and informal, between leaders from other agencies and the public.

“Communicating with the school board, communicating with law enforcement, communicating with EMS and fire, communicating with parents,” he said. “Because we’re all going to be there when there’s something going on, so we all should just go ahead and be on the same sheet of paper before it goes on.”

The 30-year Bluffton resident said two areas of concern are traffic and “taking a stance against drugs and violent crimes.”

Woodward said he is interested in organizing a team that includes officers from other municipalities and the S.C. Highway Patrol.

“Again, working together and taking care of speeders and people who are passing up and down these roads, causing all these wrecks and having all these problems,” he said.

Woodward said he similarly wants to communicate more with law enforcement from other jurisdictions to mitigate drug-related crime.

“We all know that drug dealers from other municipalities and counties come in; there’s no border,” he said. “They come across it every day to Bluffton, Hilton Head, Beaufort, Hardeeville or Jasper. We should be using more manpower to share in the fight against drugs.”

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